Reforming the Financial Sector in Central European Countries

JAN FRAIT Member of the Board of Governors of the Czech National Bank, Prague, Czech Republic LUBOS KOMÁREK Advisor to a Czech National Bank Board member in Prague, Czech Republic LUMÍR KULHÁNEK Associate Professor of Economics at the Silesian University, School of Business Administration, Karviná, Czech Republic ROMAN MATOUSEK Senior Lecturer in Financial Economics at the Business School of London Metropolitan University MARTIN MELECKÝ Ph.D. student at the University of New South Wales, Australia DANIEL STAVÁREK Ph.D. student and an Assistant Professor at Silesian University, School of Business Administration, Karviná, Czech Republic

List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors PART 1: THE FINANCIAL AND BANKING SECTORS IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES L.Kulhánek, S.Poloucek & D.Stavárek Financial sectors and intermediation in transition countries Comparison of financial sector structures Development and restructuring of banking sectors in the CEC Conclusion PART 2: THE CZECH BANKING SYSTEM IN THE 1990S: REGULATION AND SUPERVISION ; R.Matoušek The role and place of banking regulation and supervision Banking regulation and supervision - legislative framework Entry into and exit from the banking sector Deposit insurance scheme The institutional framework of supervision and regulation Conclusion PART 3: CONCENTRATION OF BANKING SECTORS ; S.Poloucek Concentration and economic theory The concept of measurement of concentration Concentration in the banking sectors of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia Conclusion PART 4: EFFICIENCY AND PROFITABILITY IN THE BANKING SECTOR ; D.Stavárek and S.Poloucek The theoretical framework of efficiency Cross-country analysis of relative efficiency Privatization and banking sector profitability Risk and profitability of banks in CEC Relationship between efficiency and profitability Conclusion Appendix PART 5: COSTS OF MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY IN ACCESSION COUNTRIES ; J.Frait, L.Komárek and M.Melecký Overview of features of the transition process in the ACC Facts on financial instability An empirical analysis of potential costs associated with macroeconomic instability Conclusion Appendix PART 6: EXCHANGE RATE AND MONETARY DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCESSION COUNTRIES ; J.Frait and L.Komárek Overview of discussions on the introduction of the euro Nominal and real convergence Exchange rate developments in six accession countries Inflation targets and price-level convergence Exchange rate regimes and the speed of euro adoption Exchange rate strategies of accession countries Conclusion Index